Pineapple Cake
by MeredithBrody
Summary: Five years on from the first time they celebrated Malcolm's birthday, Trip and Hoshi reflect on the changes of the last five years. Unapologetic fluff - Shin style.


**So, this came about 100% because of Britt and Mosie over on Tumblr. There was this one shot of Trip and Hoshi just grinning at each other. This is an insanely meandering and random oneshot, but I hope that you guys like it. It probably makes very little sense though to be honest. Unapologetic fluff with only a hint of plot. Set on September 2nd, 2156, exactly five years after the last scene in "Silent Enemy". As always please read and review.  
****Shin xx**

* * *

It had been a birthday party. Nothing more than that. Just one, single, solitary birthday party. But it had brought everything back and that was just too hard for him to deal with right then. He should have stayed, he should have waited. But he couldn't. A stupid crush was how all this had started. A stupid crush five years earlier. Things had changed completely since then, but right now it just wasn't what he really wanted to be thinking about. Trip was sure that leaving wouldn't ruing anyone's day, nobody would even notice if he did it quietly enough.

So he'd come down and sat in one corner of engineering and just stared at one of the engineering reports. He was sure that, eventually, someone would be down to check on him. Almost as soon as he was thinking that he heard familiar light footsteps and felt someone dropping to the walkway to sit with him. "You ran away from the party."

"I came down here to check on something." He replied, not entirely sure what else he could say, or should say. He'd left, he'd hope nobody would notice. She had, and she'd found him. Not that hard really. There were only so many places he could hide, even if he'd made the trip over to Columbia.

"No, you didn't. I asked Michael, he said there was nothing going on down here." He was going to have word with Rostov about that, hadn't his minion figured out when it was best not to tell Hoshi something. She didn't seem to care about an answer, instead just sat swinging her legs gently. "You missed the Captains' singing." Trip wasn't surprised at that. The one talent that seemed to be kept quiet in Starfleet was singing.

"I've heard them sing before." He admitted with a small smile, they'd been putting on shows as long as he could remember. More often Captain Hernandez, but she'd get Jon singing when she could. He hadn't even known her as anyone but someone to nod to back then, but she'd been good.

"They're good, I didn't know that." The amount of things going on with the two Captains that Hoshi likely wouldn't know was a lot, but Trip wasn't about to reveal that. It was obvious that she was just here trying to find out if he was OK. What was he supposed to tell her, that everything was fine? She wouldn't buy that. "What are you really doing down here?"

That was a question he wasn't sure he was quite ready to answer. He also knew that Hoshi would only let him duck it for so long. So now it became a choice in his mind. Did he want to play around a little longer for her to hit him with it again in a little while, or did he just tell her. He ended up decided on a midway course. "I just wanted to get away, I'm sure Malcolm's having fun."

"I think he's embarrassed at having so much attention on him." It seemed she figured out he still wasn't quite ready to talk, and so continued on with her observations of their friends. "That's probably why the Captain convinced Captain Hernandez to sing with him, give Malcolm a break."

"He'll be glad of all this in the morning." Trip laughed again, knowing his friend well enough to know that. He'd complain today, then tomorrow he'd be proud as punch that his friends had done something for his birthday.

"Remember his first birthday out here?" Hoshi asked, and Trip was amazed how similar their thoughts were. He hardly shaken that first birthday out of his mind the last few hours, and here Hoshi was, bringing it up too. Clearly he didn't reply fast enough, and Hoshi carried on speaking. "The Captain made me try and find out his favourite food."

"I remember his face when we made him cut the cake." Malcolm had looked shocked, surprised and happy. Hoshi had just been trying desperately not to have to take any of the credit, and Trip had just watch his then-new friends interacting. He didn't know Malcolm then, and Hoshi had just been his sweet friend who he had a little crush on. They were both so much more than that to him now.

"I remember looking at you afterwards and your stupid grin and his face. He couldn't wipe that smile off." He remembered her looking at him too, and he was sure that all he'd done then was smirk. That wouldn't be completely out of character for him. She'd been beaming from ear to ear.

"Yeah. It seems like a long time ago, doesn't it?" That was his only real thought then. That it wall seemed so long ago, and they all seemed much more innocent back then.

She smiled and slipped her hand over his. Her hand was warm and comforting on his. He was sure she'd have something to say and he hoped she could reassure him that it wasn't really that long. "It does. Five years to the day. So much has happened since then. The Xindi, the war..." She trailed off, and he didn't need her to say any more than that. Suddenly it seemed even longer since they launched suddenly.

"I know. A lot changed." He agreed, turning his hand over beneath hers and threading his fingers between hers. He almost couldn't believe all the changes, for all of them. He knew that five years was a long time, really, but sometimes didn't feel that way.

"Trip?" She muttered after a few moments of silence. He was sure she'd just decided they'd been silent and maudlin for too long, or maybe she was going to make another run at why he was down here. Little did she know she'd already discovered it.

"Yeah?" He still decided it was going to be more fun for him if he pretended that she hadn't. Purely because it would be more amusing.

"What's actually on your mind?" So, it was the latter. At least he could tell her for certain that she had guessed. Talking about that day had already made him feel a little better.

"I was thinking about that day too. Because I remembered how cute you were, and how proud of yourself you were for figuring out his favourite food." His mind played over that smile once more. She had been truly adorable, and so happy. "You had this huge grin."

"You were smirking!" She squeaked in response, and he hoped that was as high pitched as she'd go for a little while.

Trip laughed, glad to know his earlier thoughts were correct. That birthday though, it had been the first time they'd really all done something completely spontaneous, and apparently a formative experience at that. "He looked proud as punch about that cake. You did well getting that. None of us knew him back then." He finally admitted that, and that was what had been bothering him. That so much had changed, and sometimes he still felt like a little misunderstood kid. It never lasted long. "None of us knew each other back then. While I sometimes miss how optimistic I felt then, I'm glad I know you all now. "

"Really?" She asked, though it was obvious in the way she said it that she agree with him. He was certain that everyone on the ship would agree with that. It was weird in some ways to see the difference bet _Enterprise_'s senior staff, those who had been working together more than five years, and _Columbia_'s, who had only been serving together a little under two years.

"Well, yes." He smirked again, deciding it was the perfect time to drag that out. Obviously he'd known Jon prior to Enterprise for a long time, but everyone else he had gotten to know here. While he liked everyone, there were some he was happier to know. Hoshi being one of them. "But especially you."

"That was a nice save. I thought you'd completely forgotten me!" Her teasing him back reminded him even more of all the changes. Once upon a time she would have never dared tease him, now she never stopped.

"Oh yeah, because you'd ever let me forget you." He teased, leaning in and kissing the tip of her nose before grinning even more at her.

"I'm nice, honest." She grinned, and he just wrapped his arms around her and grinned back. "Come on, we should go see if there's any pineapple cake left." She stood up at that point and pulled him to his feet too. It was nice to remind himself that everything had changed over the last five years, including the two of them. They'd ended up together, but she didn't push him, and he tried not to push her. They worked, and that was the most important thing right now. They both needed that.


End file.
